This invention relates to plant supports. In particular, the present invention relates to a plant support having a helically coiled support member rigidly fastened to a plurality of legs.
Agricultural production of some species of flora (tomatoes, grapes, cucumbers, etc.) can be increased when the plants are provided with a support structure. In particular, plants that yield heavy fruitation but tend to have relatively weak stems and branches are prone to breakage in high winds and heavy rains. In some species, such as tomatoes, even if breakage does not occur, heavy yield losses can occur when branches bend and place the fruit in contact with the ground where it spoils.
Plant support structures can further improve yields by guiding plant growth upwards and reducing spreading, thus allowing more plants to be grown in a given area. This is particularly true of vines such as grapes and cucumbers.
Thus, plant supports can serve both to guide plant growth in a desired direction and help prevent losses due to breakage and spoiling. Smith U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,373 has also noted that the base of a plant support can improve yields by delineating a boundary and preventing overly close cultivation and irrigation furrowing which results in root damage.
The prior art includes Bork U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,489, which discloses a cylindrically-shaped plant support composed of two stakes to which a helical spring can be adjustably mounted. However, the Bork reference discloses a relatively expensive device composed of seven individually manufactured subcomponents. The competitive nature of agricultural production precludes overly costly support structures such as the one disclosed in the Bork reference.
Other examples of prior art include Smith U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,373 and Rinker U.S. Pat. No. 2,083,526. Both Smith and Rinker disclose plant supports, the body of which consists solely of helically wound springs. While inexpensive to manufacture, these configurations suffer from excessive flexibility. The lack of rigidity disclosed in both the Smith and Rinker references can result in plant breakage under high wind load conditions.
Finally, Binyon U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,171, Balousek U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,911 and Richards U.S. Pat. No. 417,838 all disclose plant supports composed of a single central stake to which bent wires and some variant of a spiral or helical shape have been attached. One problem with this configuration is that wind induced oscillations can easily cause the stake to work loose from the ground, eventually offering the plant little or no support. Another problem with the central stake is that its insertion can cause root damage (a problem also inherent in the Rinker reference).